Labeling machine



March 18, 1952' D', FA|REsT 2,589,787

LABELING MACHINE Filed. Feb. 27, 1951 Inven lor y Attorney Patented Mar. 18, l952 LABELING MACHINE Derek Howard Fairest, Shefiield, England, as.

signor to Morgan Fairest Limited, Sheflield;

England Application February 27, 1951, Serial No. 212,933

In Great Britain March 14, 1950 1 f This invention relates to labelling machines of the type in which a label adhering by wet gum to one plate is transferred by a suction pusher to one of 'a'number of delivery plates to which it isthen held, gummed side out, by suction openings in they plate for application to the article to be labelled, the delivery plates moving in turn from transfer position to application position in turn. With the delivery plates forming the sides of an intermittently rotatable box, each time the box comes to rest a label is transferred to one of the sides as a label is applied by another side to one-of a series of articles fed in synchronism with the'rotatory movements, and a high rate of label application is achieved, with each label placed precisely on a delivery plate because of the V suction control exercised by the transfer pusher. ljhesuction has to be interrupted at .the transfer. pusher to allow the label to adhere to the delivery plate by the suction there applied .to the non-gummed side of the label, i. e., the side bearing the printed matter, and in the constructionof machine described in U. S. Patent No. 2,509,902 of S. E. Banks the suction at the delivery plates hasEbeen interrupted on the application of each label to the article and during the idle movementof the plates to the position at which further ;1 abels are transferred to them. The

necessarily complicated rotary valve-gear has to.

be finely adjusted and is in danger of becoming blocked by paper-dust removed from the rough back of the label by the pusher and drawn into the mechanism, with ultimate reduction of the degree of suction to below what is effective to control the labels.

One object of the persent invention is to simplify the valve mechanism, with consequent avoidance of fine adjustment. A further object is to prevent paper-dust from being drawn into the valve mechanism. I

According to the present invention, a labelling machine of the type having a rotatable delivery box with suction openings in its sides to hold labels transferred, gummed-side out, by a suction pusher movable towards and from a side of the box in one position of the box, the intermittent rotation of the box carrying the label to another position for application to the article to be labelled, comprises continuous connections from a source of suction to the openings in all the sides of the box, a suction connection to the pusher, a valve in the said connection to the pusher, and means operating intermittently in phase with the movements of the pusher and the box to open and close the valve for application 5 Claims. (Cl. 216-) to the pusher of suction only during its movement towards the box.

The suction may be supplied from a source common to both the box and the pusher, e. g. by being applied to a'chamber in communication with the openings in the side of the delivery plate, this ch'amberbeing sealed by. a ringate tached to a resilient} bellows and pressed by a spring on to a corresponding seating ring, thus permitting the free rotation of the delivery box with adequate maintenance of suction in the chamber and allowing for the ready removal and replacement of the box, as may be necessary for interchange of the faces of its sides with open ings in accordance with changes in the size-or shape of the labels to be applied. Separate sources of suction may, however, be, usedfor the box and the pusher, as may be desirable to avoid intake of air at either of these parts interfering with the degree of suction at the other part..-,, I

It is found that continuous suction to the open.- ings on all sides of the delivery box permitssuflicient holding suction at the faces where labels are being held, notwithstanding the small inflow of air through-the openings in anidle face. By the resultant elimination of valves controlling the suction to the separate faces, removaland re placement of the delivery box merely walls for the breaking and remaking of the seal formed by the sealing ring.' I

In order to avoid having to evacuate the whole interior of the delivery box, the suction chamber may be kept small and connected by individual pipes to each face, where branch passages lead to as many fine openings as are necessary for the holding of a label: Interchange of faceswith different arrangements of openings may then be effected without interference with the internal suction arrangement of the box.

The invention will now be described in reater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a part sectional elevation general- 1y on the line l-l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a plan view and Figure 3 is a sectional detail of Figure 2.

In Figure 2, normal parts of the machine that lie above the plane of that figure are shown in chain-dotted line, to leave the mechanism according to the invention clearly exposed.

A label In having been brought from a feedstack to the position shown by the normal operation of the machine, a pusher H is movable towards the one face 12A of an intermittently ing the pusher. The pusher, now at l IA, presses the label as at [A to the face IZA, and the label is transferred to the face IZA, and the pusher recedes, leaving the label adhering to the face I2A, as is explained below. Two stages of rotation of the box l3 bring the face 12A to the position" [23, where thelabel held to the face is secured to a bottle I l, which is being rolled along a guide wall l5. The pusher I l contacts a small ungummed portion of the side of the label ur facing away from the face i2A, so that the box l3 carries the label gummed-side out, for that side to be presented to the bottle [4.

The box 13 is removably secured by a wing nut 46 to a driving shaft ll'. A sealing ring (8 is pressed by a spring 19 round a bellows ISAon to a stationary seating rin 2:! below the box, within which is a small suction chamber 2!. An annular passage 22 provides a communication to flexible tubes 23, one for each face of the box l3,- communicating through an aperture 24 in the permanent side 25 of the box, and thence by passages 26 to any desired suction openings 21 as may be required for the particular size and shape of label in use. The passages 26 and openings 21 are in a detachable side 28 of the box,

permitting use of the box for different sizes and shapes of label.

Suction from 'a main supply connection 29 is applied to the chamber 2| by a tube 30, so that suction is continuous to the four faces of the box l3. In general, there will be at least two labels adhering to faces of the box, e. g. one just applied by the pusher ii and one in transit to the face position i213, and possibly a third label awaiting transfer to the bottle i l, so that only one or two faces do not have the openings 21 covered by a label. The small admission of air thu'sperinitted does not interfere with the holding power of the suction at the faces bearing labels, provided a suflicient degree of suction is. applied-from the supply connection 29.

A valve box 3-2 surrounds the shaft l1 below the box I3, and contains a valvebobbin 33 pushed towards a rotary cam 34 on a shaft 35 by a spring 35. A port 3'! connects the chamber 2i 4 so is not liable to clog the valve box 32. But in any case, the simple valve mechanism in the box 32 is wide-ported, and itself is not such as to be readily clogged. Adjustment of timing is readily effected, externally of the valve box, by adjust: ment or replacement of the cam 34.

What I claim is:

l. A labelling machine of the type having a rotatable delivery box with suction openings in its sides to hold labels transferred, gummedside out, by a suction pusher movable towards and from a side of the box in one position of the box, the intermittent rotation of the box carrying the label to another position for application to the article to be labelled, said machine comprises continuous connections from a source 0f suction to the openings in all the sides of the box, a suction connection to the pusher, a valve in the said connection to the pusher, and means was annulus 38 in the bobbin 33 when the sebum is pushed to the right (Figure 3) by the cam 34, and admits suctionto a flexible tube 39 through a filter 40 and flexible tube 4| to the suction passage d2 of the pusher H. When the bebb'in 33 is retracted, the annulus 38 is cutfoff from the port 31, and exhausts itself at 43. e

The carii- 34 causes suction to be applied to the scenes H for the latter to hold alabel Ii! as it transfers it to the box 53, and cuts off suction as" the label approaches the face IZA, to allow the continuously applied suction at that face to take over the label, the label remaining accurately positioned during transfer by the pusher suction and being held correctly positioned by the box suction during its movement to the bottle I4.

Any paper-dust removed from the back of the label at the pusher is caught in the filter Ml, and

operating intermittently in phase with the movements of the pusher and the box to open and, close the valve for application to the pusher of suction only during its movement towards the box.

2. A labelling machine as in claim 1', wherein the box and pusher connections are supplied from a common source of suction.

3. A labelling machine of the type having a rotatable delivery box with suction openings inits sides to hold labels transferred, gummed side out, by a suction pusher movable towards and from a side of the box in one position ofthe' box, the intermittent rotation of the box carrying the label to another position for applicationto the article to be labelled, said machine com-pris ing a suction chamber below the box, acon-nee tion from a source of suction to the chamber, continuous connections from the chamber to the openings in all the sides of the fboxyavalve, a port from the chamber to the valve, a suction connection from the valve to the pusher, means operating intermittently in phase with the move ments of the pusher and the box to open and close the valve for application to the pusher 'of suction only during its movement towards the box and sealing ring, a resilient bellows, a spring, and a seating ring co-operating to permit rota tion of the box while sealing the chamber;

4. A labelling machine as in claim 3, compris ing individual pipes making the continuous con: nection from the suction chamber to the sides of the box.

5. A labelling machine as in claim 3', comprising a filter disposed in the connection between the valve and the pusher.

DEREK HOWARD FAIREST.

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